Rees JonesRecensioni

A decent mystery turned adventure thriller. Well-written, fast-paced. Good way to while away a couple of hours.

Love the private series...poor Jack just wants to get home....happy he may have met someone he could take with him....nice quick read!

Well I must say this was better than the last few Private novels I’ve read. Pretty typical though. I swear if that one guy used the word “bastard” one more time I was going to lose it!!

FROM AMAZON: Private, the best investigation unit in the world, has agents who are the smartest, fastest, and most technologically advanced in the world -- and they always uncover the truth. No wonder the most influential men and women on the planet seek their help on a daily basis.

But there's only one client who can make its founder, Jack Morgan, drop everything and fly to London at full speed: Princess Caroline, third in line to the British throne.

She needs Morgan to find a friend who has mysteriously disappeared, a woman named Sophie Edwards. Though Princess Caroline insists it's just a missing-persons case, Morgan knows she's hiding something. The closer he gets to uncovering the truth, the more he realizes there are powerful people who will stop at nothing to keep Sophie from being found.

I had thought the first volume was complete in itself and was surprised the author put out a sequel. Following on the action in the first volume, the novel was just as exciting and kept me glued to the pages. Felix and the other members of his contubernium who are left alive after Teutoberg, escape slavery, along with three Batavians. They reach the fort of Aliso, which is putting up stiff resistance to Arminius' army, while other forts have been completely destroyed. They are taken in and become part of a unit, in the century led by the pragmatic and fair Centurion Hadrianus, nicknamed H, a good soldier. The novel details the progress of the siege, fighting Germans outside and also contending with unrest and rationing inside, including murders of women and girls. The Syrian archers, a large part of the defense force, are blamed. There are raids, two successful and one an absolute debacle. Finally, H, Felix, and Titus scout out a route to avoid Germans, to try to reach Vetera. The whole population of the fort, military and civilians, set out under the cover of a severe storm hoping to avoid any German interference.

The novel was just as bloody and gruesome as The first volume, BLOOD FOREST. Some of the soldiers were stereotypes: the greedy opportunist who runs a black market; the arrogant, tactless malingerer, whose mouth is his downfall ; the innocent, dim-witted boy soldier; and the complainer with the sarcastic sense of humor. The action in some parts affected me deeply. I was able to get into the soldiers' heads and understand their feelings and reactions to events. Hints are given as to Felix's life prior to his being in Germania through either memories or more often, nightmares: PTSD? The dialogue was coarse. At first I thought the Prologue something tacked on: merely a "hook" to get the reader interested in the novel, then wondered if "the [unnamed] soldier" was Felix himself, because of a broken sandal mentioned in both novels. Could this have been his entry into Germania? The author leaves room for the possibility of another sequel to further the narrative.

Highly recommended.

good short story

This is another exciting installment in the Private series. This time, Jack is in London, trying to find a friend of the princess. While there was a lot of excitement, there was also a lot of violence, which I think is excessive at times. There are a few shocks, including people who die.

#Princess #JamesPatterson

3 thieves plan a heist of diamonds, but are thwarted by another gang trying to steal the diamonds as well. Detective Inspector Andrew Hill is one week away from retirement, but decides to take on the case. There are several twists in this Bookshots read.

Plot was okay, but I'll never read another Patterson book that has Rees Jones as a 'co-writer'. His author 'voice' sucks. Overblown narrative, dramatic (like a drama queen - really). Made Peter Knight sound like a whiney housewife.

Princess a private novel being one of the first in James Patterson’s Private series in which I’ve read creates an interesting read. The book starts off with an interesting storyline in a missing person. Once this case is solved a third of the way through the book, the storyline changes pace to revenge. At times the characters can easily be mixed up and some parts that can be read as confusing. Overall it is an interesting book

a quick read

When Princess Caroline, third in line to the British throne, requests help, Private founder Jack Morgan heads for England. But the Princess is less than forthcoming and his search for her missing friend, Sophie Edwards, jeopardizes Jack’s life. Can he overcome her reluctance to trust him with the secrets she insists on keeping private?

Filled with familiar characters and the requisite plot twists and turns, this fast-paced tale keeps the pages turning with virtually non-stop action. Although credibility stretches a bit with Jack’s seeming invincibility, it’s a decent story and fans of the series should enjoy Jack Morgan’s latest outing.

Recommended.

Powerful, intense novel on Teutoberg Forest Massacre, 9 AD, as told from the viewpoint of a legionary, rather than the officers'. They are only tangential to the story, except for Arminius, who drives the action, and to a lesser extent Prefect Caeonius, whose actions bear on the protagonist, Felix, several times and whose final decision concerns the whole army. Although the Teutoberg incident has been recounted several time in novel form recently, it's always interesting to see how each author tells the tale.

A soldier is found in a grove, his companions all having met gruesome death at the hands of the Germans. He claims to have remembered nothing before. Rescued, he is sent to one of the fateful legions as a casualty replacement and is given the name Felix, meaning "Lucky". The story concerns him and his contubernium [called herein a "section."] The novel smolders until the final conflagration--battle with the Germans near a defensive wall of withy branches the Germans have built and the shattering denouement in the Romans' last marching camp. Through the novel, we get tantalizing bits of Felix's past and how he came to be there until the final reveal. In the final scene, he has a choice to make that will affect the rest of his life.

The action was gruesome and blood-saturated all through but I felt nothing was gratuitous. The author went overboard on the profanity, and I wish it could have been toned down somewhat, e.g., not so many f-word as adjective over and over. I did get a view of a common soldier's life back then in all aspects, in garrison life and group dynamics, on the march dodging Germans' hit-and-run tactics, traps, and obstacles, not only fighting in battle. I also got into the soldiers' heads--their thinking, psychology, and emotions. The members of Felix's section fit the stereotypes of a group of soldiers: the brute and bully but de facto leader; the raw recruits; the disillusioned, dispirited old soldier; the super-religious and ultra patriot; the loving family man; and others. The story easily could have been moved to another era, say, World War II. The author lays out the possibility of a sequel, but I feel the story could have ended here. The writing was top-notch and the cover fantastic. The symbolism of the crow becomes apparent on reading the story. I felt the whole prologue was a waste and added nothing to the story, which could have begun easily with Chapter One, dispensing with the prologue entirely.

Highly recommended.

Three amateur thieves plan a diamond heist only to find themselves facing another team of robbers after the same diamonds. A bloody fight ensues, but the amateur thieves manage to get away with the diamonds; they plan to sell them and use the money for what they believe is a worthy cause. But they’ve unwittingly fallen into a neat little preplanned insurance scheme and, although the jewelry shop does not notify the authorities of the theft, Scotland Yard begins an investigation. As the trio heads to Amsterdam to sell the gems, the rival gang and soon-to-be-retired Detective Inspector Andrew Hill are hot on their heels.

And then everything changes . . . .

With its trademark fast-from-the-first-page format, this short, action-filled BookShots tale offers readers several unexpected plot twists and a surprising reveal that may shock its readers.

Recommended.

When kidnappers threaten to execute a member of the royal family in front of the queen, Jack Morgan and Peter Knight [from the London office of Private] find themselves with only twenty-four hours to solve the case. Can they find the kidnapped woman and keep the unthinkable from happening?

This BookShots tale draws on characters from the Private series to weave its pulse-pounding, action-packed tale. Characteristically short, as are all the books in this format, readers may guess the identity of the kidnapper before the final reveal, but getting there is good reading.

Recommended.